Systems and methods for providing critical information based on profile data

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing critical information to a user of a content providing service based on profile data associated with the user are disclosed. Such systems and methods can include storing a user profile that identifies a plurality of communication pathways via which a critical information alert can be provided to a user associated with the user profile. The critical information alert contains critical information provided by the content providing service. The user profile includes a respective set of decision criteria associated with each of the plurality of communication pathways. A satisfied set of decision criteria is identified from among the respective sets of decision criteria. The critical information alert is provided to the user via the communication pathway associated with the satisfied set of decision criteria.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of communication systems. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for providingcritical information to a user of a content providing service based onprofile data associated with the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The proliferation of content servers on the World Wide Web has resultedin the availability of a seemingly infinite supply of information. Withthe click of a mouse button, a user can access just about any type ofinformation—stocks, news, weather, traffic, and so forth—by accessing acontent server that provides that type of information.

Some content providers enable a user to setup an account to accesscertain information that is of interest to the user. For example, acontent server might enable a user to setup a stock portfolio where, foreach of the stocks, the content server provides certain information,such as current stock price and news relating to the company.

Some of the information that the content server provides is merelyinformative. For example, such a content server might provide the userwith information about the current price of a particular stock, thecurrent weather in a particular area of interest to the user, thetraffic situation within an area of interest to the user, or news abouta particular company.

There are circumstances, however, when a piece of information isconsidered “critical” to the user. For example, the user might want toknow immediately if a particular stock hits a particular price, or ifthere is a traffic jam on the route home. Typically, the user canrequest that, in such circumstances, the content server notify the userby providing a “critical information alert.” The content server canprovide such an alert, for example, if a certain stock hits a certainprice, if a storm is coming, if there is a traffic jam, or if a companyannounces something significant.

Such critical information alerts are typically provided via a fixedcommunication pathway between the content server and a device via whichthe user can receive the critical information alert. Typically, the userprovides the server with communications pathway data that identifies oneor more communication pathways via which the user wishes to be notifiedof any critical information. For example, the user might provide a pagernumber to which the content server can initiate a call and send a textmessage (that informs the user that a certain stock has hit a certainprice, for example). Other examples of such communication pathwaysinclude telephone, email, and the like.

The content server typically stores such communication pathway data in adata store and associates respective communication pathway data witheach such user. Typically, however, the communication pathway data isfixed—that is, the content server stores a fixed set of one or morepathways via which each user should be notified of any criticalinformation. The content server then notifies the user via thosespecified pathways whenever a critical alert is transmitted—regardlessof the type of information or the time at which the notification isbeing transmitted. Thus, such a system can provide a user with immediateaccess to critical information—as long as the user has access to thespecified communication pathway. If, however, the user is not currentlyusing the specified device, the user would not receive the criticalinformation alert, and might not receive the critical information untilit is too late to benefit from it.

It would be advantageous, therefore, to users of such content providingservices, if systems and methods were available that identify acurrently preferred communication pathway by which to provide suchcritical information. Such systems and methods could be based on a userprofile associated with the user, and would be particularly advantageousif they were to provide such critical information based on the presence,availability, location, and preferences of the user.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides systems and methods for providing criticalinformation to a user of a content providing service based on profiledata associated with the user. Such systems and methods can includestoring a user profile that identifies a plurality of communicationpathways via which a critical information alert can be provided to auser associated with the user profile. The critical information alertcontains critical information provided by the content providing service.A user interface could be provided via which the user can provide datarelating to the user profile.

The user profile can identify, for a selected communication pathway, analert receiving device associated with the selected communicationpathway, and a device identifier that enables an alert server to providethe critical information alert via the selected communication pathway.The device identifier could include a number, such as a telephonenumber, a pager number, or a fax number, that enables the alert serverto establish a telephone connection to the alert receiving device. Thedevice identifier could include a network address, such as an emailaddress, that enables the alert server to establish a telephoneconnection to the alert receiving device.

The user profile includes a respective set of decision criteriaassociated with each of the plurality of communication pathways. Thedecision criteria can be based, for example, on a current status orlocation of the user, the time of day, the day of the week. The decisioncriteria could also be based on presence information associated with theuser.

A satisfied set of decision criteria is identified from among therespective sets of decision criteria. The critical information alert isprovided to the user via the communication pathway associated with thesatisfied set of decision criteria. The critical information alert couldbe provided to an alert receiving device associated with thecommunication pathway associated with the satisfied set of decisioncriteria.

A method according to the invention can include receiving from a contentproviding service, critical information that is associated with a userof the content providing service. A preferred communication pathway viawhich to provide a critical information alert to an alert receivingdevice associated with the user of the content providing service isidentified. A critical information alert that contains the criticalinformation can then be provided to the alert receiving device via thepreferred communication pathway.

An alert server according to the invention can include: a data storethat contains a user profile associated with a user of a contentprovider service; identification means for identifying, based on theuser profile, a preferred communication pathway for transmitting acritical information alert; and transmission means for transmitting thecritical information alert via the preferred communication pathway.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

Other features of the invention are further apparent from the followingdetailed description of the embodiments of the present invention takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawing, of which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary telecommunication network inwhich the principles of the invention can be employed;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a preferred embodiment of asystem according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a criticalinformation alert server according to the invention;

FIG. 4 depicts a preferred embodiment of a customer profile for use inaccordance with the invention; and

FIGS. 5A and 5B provide a flowchart of a preferred embodiment of amethod according to the invention for providing critical informationalerts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary telecommunication network 100,such as a public switched telecommunications network (PSTN), in whichthe principles of the invention can be employed. More particularly, FIG.1 illustrates a simplified advanced intelligent network (AIN). AINsystems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,301, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Though the variousfeatures and aspects of the invention can be utilized in conjunctionwith an AIN, it should be understood that the invention is not limitedto AIN-based systems, and that other networks and system arrangementscan be used in accordance with the invention.

As shown, the AIN 100 can include a plurality of service switchingpoints (SSPs) 114, 116. SSPs 114, 116 are capable of generating AINqueries. An SSP, which is also known as a “central office,” is basicallya switch and the terms are used interchangeably herein. SSPs 114 and 116can comprise, for example, DMS100 or 5ESS switches. These switches canbe manufactured by, for example, Lucent Technologies, Inc. or NortelNetworks.

Each of the SSPs 114, 116 can have one or more subscriber lines 111connected thereto. Subscriber lines 111 may also be referred to ascalling lines. Each SSP 114, 116 serves a designated group of callinglines 111, and thus, the SSP that serves a particular calling line maybe referred to as its serving switch. Typically, each calling line 111is connected to one or more pieces of terminating equipment 110, 112,such as a telephones, facsimile machines, computers, modems, or othersuch telecommunication devices.

SSPs 114, 116 are interconnected by one or more trunk circuits 115.Trunks 115 are basically the voice paths via which communications areconnected between SSPs. The term “communication” or “call” is usedherein to include all messages that may be exchanged between the callingparty and the called party in a telecommunication network, such asillustrated in FIG. 1. Trunk 115 can be either a Signaling System 7(SS7) controlled multi-frequency (MF) trunk, or primary rate interface(PRI) trunk or the like. The type of trunk will be in accordance withboth the sending and receiving SSP to which it is connected.

Each SSP 114, 116 can include different types of facilities and/ortriggers. SSPs 114 and 116 are programmable switches that can performsome or all of the following functions: recognize AIN-type calls, launchqueries, and receive commands and data to further process and routeAIN-type calls. When one of SSPs 114 or 116 is triggered by an AIN-typecall, the triggered SSP 114 or 116 formulates and sends an AIN query.Based on the reply from the AIN network, SSP 114 or 116 responds to callprocessing instructions received.

Each of SSPs 114 and 116 is connected to a signal transfer point (STP)117 via respective data links 150, 152. Data links 150, 152 can employSS7, for example, though it should be understood that any suitablesignaling protocol could be employed. To facilitate signaling and datamessaging, each SSP 114 and 116 can be equipped with Common ChannelSignaling (CCS) capabilities, e.g., SS7, which provides two-waycommunications of data messages over CCS links 150 and 152 betweencomponents of the AIN network. The data messages can be formatted inaccordance with the Transaction Capabilities Applications Part (TCAP).Alternatively, Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) Users Part(ISUP) can be used for signaling purposes between, for example, SSPs 114and 116. In such a case, SSPs 114 and 116 can be equipped with thecapability to map appropriate data between TCAP and ISUP protocols, andvice versa. The telephone network basically employs an upper-levelsoftware controlled network through the STPs and the SCP.

SSPs 114 and 116 may allow normal switch processing to be suspended atspecific points in a call so that the switch can send an AIN messagequery via signaling transfer point (STP) 117 to SCP 118, 119 or 120. SCP118, 119 or 120 may execute software based service logic and returncall-processing instructions to the triggering AIN SSP. New services maybe provisioned by assigning AIN SSP triggers to customer lines, trunks,and/or NANP (North American Numbering Plan) telephone numbers.

Much of the intelligence of the AIN resides in a type of AIN elementreferred to as a service control point (SCP) 118, 119, 120 that isconnected to STP 117 over an SS7 data link, or the like, 154, 156 or158. Accordingly, the connections by links 150, 152, 154, 156, and 158are for signaling purposes and allow SSPs 114 and 116 to send messagesto, and receive messages from, SCP 118, 119 and 120.

Among the functions performed by SCP 118, 119, 120 is the hosting ofnetwork databases and subscriber databases, which may be stored inrespective data storage objects 123, 124, 125. For example, data storageobject 123 is shown as a database communicatively coupled via respectivecommunication paths 160, 162, 164 to SCP 118, although data storageobject 123 can be embodied as a component within SCP 118, such as aninternally-mounted hard disk device. The databases stored in datastorage object 123 may be used in providing telecommunications servicesto a customer. Typically, SCP 118, 119, 120 is also the repository ofservice package applications (SPAs) that are used in the application oftelecommunication services, enhanced features, or subscriber services tocalling lines. Additionally, SPAs may use databases for providingtelecommunication services.

A set of triggers can be defined at the SSPs 114, 116. A trigger in theAIN is an event associated with a particular call that initiates a queryto be sent to SCP 118, 119, or 120. The trigger causes selected SCP 118,119, or 120 to access, if necessary, its respective database 123, 124,or 125 for processing instructions with respect to the particular call.The results of the SCP processing and/or database inquiry is/are sentback to selected SSP 114 or 116 in a response through STP 117. Thereturn packet includes instructions to SSP 114, 116 as to how to processthe call. The instructions may be to take some special action as aresult of a customized calling service, enhanced feature, or subscriberservice. In response, switch 114, 116 moves through its call states,collects the called digits, and generates further packets that are usedto set up and route calls. Similar devices for routing calls amongvarious local exchange carriers are provided by regional STP andregional SCP.

An example of such a trigger is a termination attempt trigger (TAT),which causes a query to be sent to SCP 118, 119, or 120 whenever anattempt is made to terminate a call on the line of subscriber 110 or112. Another type of trigger that may be used is a Public Office DialingPlan (PODP) trigger, though it should be understood that the principlesof the invention include the use of other triggers.

The AIN can also include a services circuit node 134 (SCN), which mayalso be referred to herein as a services node (SN). SN 134 is aninteractive data system that acts as a switch to transfer calls. SN 134may provide interactive help, collect voice information fromparticipants in a call, and/or provide notification functions. SN 134can be a Lucent Technologies Star Server FT Model 3200 or Model 3300although other such devices can be employed. SN 134 can include voiceand dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signal recognition devices and/orvoice synthesis devices. In addition, SN 134 can include a data assemblyinterface. SN 134 can be connected to local SCP 118, 119, 120 viarespective data links 166, 168, 170 using an X.25, SS7 or TCP/IPprotocol or any other suitable protocol. In addition, SN 134 typicallymay be connected to one or more (but usually only a few) SSPs viaIntegrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) lines or any other kind ofsuitable telephone lines 132.

One skilled in the art will further recognize that the above-describednetwork is a simplified network meant for explanatory purposes. It islikely that a telephone network might include numerous user stations,SSPs, STPs, SCPs, and SNs along with other telephone network elements,and can employ other types of triggers without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a preferred embodiment of asystem according to the invention that includes a content server 240, apresence server 242, a location server 244, and an alert server 250,each of which is communicatively coupled to a communication network 218.Preferably, the communication network 218 is the Internet, though itsshould be understood that the communication network 218 could be anylocal or wide area network, such as a proprietary intranet, for example.Additionally, it should be understood that the functions of servers 240,242, 244, and 250 could be implemented on separate computers or on asingle computer. Also, the functions of any of servers 240, 242, 244,and 250 could be implemented on a single computer or on multiplecomputers.

According to the invention, a user can use a telephone 210 to call intothe alerting service, which can be provided as an option in an existingtelephone service or as a standalone service. The user's telephone 210is connected to a PSTN 212 via a calling line 211. The PSTN 212 directsthe call through an SCP 214, which can be coupled to the network 218 viaa communication link 219. Thus, in a preferred embodiment of theinvention, the SCP 214 can perform the main processing (described below)for the alerting service. That is, the functions of the alert server 250can be integrated into the SCP 214. Alternatively, the functions of thealert server could be implemented separately from the SCP 214. Thus, thepresent invention can be embodied in an AIN-based telephone system suchas described above. The SCP 214, for example, can include acomputer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions thereonfor performing a method according to the invention. The presentinvention, however, can be implemented in other components of anAIN-based telephone network, or in any other telephone network orsystem. Consequently, the present invention should not be construed tobe limited to AIN-based systems.

Alternatively, the user can connect to the alerting service via thecommunications network 218, which is preferably the Internet. The user,via a browser executing on the user's client device 220, can access websites provided by any of the servers 240, 242, 244, and 250. The clientdevice 220 can be a desktop computer, laptop computer, or any other suchdevice that can be communicatively coupled to the communication network218. The client device 220 can be communicatively coupled to thecommunication network 218 via wired or wireless telephone lines, cable,or any other such communications link.

The user can also access the alerting service via a wireless device 230,such as a mobile telephone or personal digital assistant, for example.The wireless device is communicatively coupled to a wireless network232, which is communicatively coupled to the communication network 218.Thus, a user can access the alerting service via a wireline or wirelessconnection. Alternatively, the user can also access the alerting servicevia a voice portal via VoiceXML or other such language.

In accordance with the invention, the user can request that the contentserver 240 deliver critical information to the alert server 250. Itshould be understood that a single content server 250 is depicted inFIG. 2 for simplicity, though any number of content servers can becoupled to the alert server 250 via the communication network 218.Typically, a content server enables a user thereof to identify certaininformation that the content server provides as being criticalinformation. For example, a content server that provides stock quotesand news related to publicly owned companies might enable a user torequest notification if a certain specified stock hits a certainspecified price, or if a certain publicly owned company issues a newsrelease, or the like. The user can request, for example, that thecontent server notify the user via a specified communication pathway ifthe specified stock hits the specified price. Such content serverstypically provide only one communication pathway for such notification(such as via the user's email account or pager, for example).

In accordance with the invention, however, the user can request that thecontent server 240 notify the alert server 250 of any criticalinformation. That is, the user can specify the alert server 250 as thecommunication pathway by which the content server 240 should notify theuser of any critical information. The user can cause the criticalinformation alerts to be routed to the alert server 250 by providing apathway that enables the content server 240 to deliver the criticalinformation to the alert server 250. Preferably, the pathway alsoenables the alert server 250 to determine which user is to receive thecritical information alert. For example, the pathway can include anetwork address, such as “userID1 @ alertserver.” Such an addressenables the content server to deliver the message to “alertserver,” andalso enables “alertserver” to determine that the received criticalinformation is to be delivered to the user having user ID “userID1.”

As shown in FIG. 2, a presence server 242 can be coupled to thecommunication network 218 to provide presence information to the alertserver 250. Presence servers, as are well known in the art, typicallymaintain information as to whether or not a user is “present” at any ofone or more communication devices associated with the user. Thisinformation may be obtained either via communication between thepresence server and the one or more communication devices, or viacommunication between the server and other network elements to which theone or more communication devices are coupled.

The presence information that the presence server 242 maintains caninclude device login status and capabilities. For example, the presenceserver 242 can maintain information that indicates whether the user islogged onto the Internet at a specific computer, whether the user'spager is on and in range, whether the user's mobile phone is on and inrange, whether the user's instant messaging client is active, or thelike. Such presence information can also include user availabilityinformation, such as user preferences that indicate how the user wouldlike to receive communications in certain circumstances. For example,the user can define “active personas” that are associated with certaindevices and means of communication.

As is also shown in FIG. 2, a location server 244 can be coupled to thecommunication network 218 to provide location data to the alert server250. Preferably, the location server 244 maintains a data store thatcontains respective location data associated with each of a plurality ofusers of the alerting service. The location data represents the currentgeographic location of the associated user. The alert server 250 canpoll the location server 244 to retrieve the location data associatedwith a specific user.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a user of the alertingservice can wear or carry a location device 246 that transmits to thelocation server 244 location signals 245 that represent the currentgeographic location of the user. Preferably, the location device 246includes a GPS receiver that receives GPS signals 247 from a pluralityof GPS satellites 248. The GPS receiver determines the currentgeographic location of the user from the GPS signals. Preferably, thecurrent location of the user is expressed in terms of longitude andlatitude. The location device can also include a transmitter thattransmits the location signals to the location server 244. The locationsignals 245 can include data that represent the current geographiclocation of the user (such as the longitude and latitude, for example),as well as an identifier that uniquely identifies the user's locationdevice 246.

Alternatively, the location device 246 can be a simplex device thattransmits a signal train (i.e., a series of pulses) to the locationserver 244, which can compute the current location of the associateduser from the received signal train. In any event, the location server244 determines the current location of the user, preferably in terms oflongitude and latitude. The location server 244 can be an integralcomponent of the alert server 250, which may or may not be on the SCP214, or it can be part of an outside service that provides the locationdata to the alert server 250.

The alert server 250 can then determine the preferred communicationpathway to deliver to the user a critical information alert thatcontains the critical information. The alert server can determine thepreferred communication pathway based on user preferences in the userprofile and any location data or presence information, such as theuser's active persona, for example, that the alert server has at thetime it receives the critical information from the content server.

In a preferred embodiment, the alert server 250 can simply poll thepresence server 242 to determine where the user can be reached at thetime the critical information is received. Preferably, the alert server250 queries the presence server 242, via APIs that are provided for thispurpose, to determine user availability. The presence server 242 couldalso query the location server 244 to determine the current location ofthe user, which provides the presence sever 242 with additionalinformation to determine how best to reach the user.

A media server 216, as is well known in the art, can be coupled to thenetwork 218 or PSTN 212 to enable the notification service to initiatetelephone calls, dispatch electronic mail, or otherwise establishcommunications with the user. The alert server 250 can initiate atelephone call, for example, by sending a call request to the mediaserver 216. The media server 216 places the call and plays an audiomessage informing the user of the critical information. The media servercan be an integral component of the notification service on the SCP 214,or it can be part of an outside service that performs these functionsfor the notification service. The wireless network 232 enables the alertserver 250 to notify the user via a wireless device 230, such as amobile telephone, pager, PDA, or the like.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a criticalinformation alert server 250 according to the invention. As shown inFIG. 3, the alert server 250 can include a data store 260 in which userprofile data corresponding to each of a plurality of users can bestored. Such profile data is described in detail below in connectionwith FIG. 4. Generally, the user profile identifies a plurality ofcommunication pathways via which a critical information alert can beprovided to the associated user. Preferably, the alert server 250 alsoincludes a user interface 252 via which a user can provide data to bestored in the data store 260. The user interface 252 can be telephonebased or network based, as described above.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the alert server 250includes receiving means 254, identification means 256, and transmissionmeans 258. The receiving means 254 receives critical information fromthe content server 240, and can also receive location data from thelocation server 244 and presence information from the presence server242. The identification means 256 is for identifying, based on the userprofile and any available presence information or location data, apreferred communication pathway for transmitting a critical informationalert to the user. The transmission means 258 is for transmitting thecritical information alert via the preferred communication pathway.

FIG. 4 depicts a preferred embodiment of a user profile table 400 foruse in accordance with the invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the profiletable 400 can include a respective entry or user profile 402 for each ofa plurality of users. Each user profile 402 can contain a respectiveuser signature 404. A user signature 404 can include a user ID andoptional password, for example. Each user profile 402 can also includean optional friendly name 406 that is associated with the user.

According to the invention, each user profile 402 can also include oneor more sets of decision criteria 410, via which the alerting servicecan determine how to notify the user of any critical information. Thedecision criteria 410 can be “objective” criteria, such as criteriabased on time of day, day of the week, or the like, or “subjective”criteria, such as criteria based on the current “status” of the user(e.g., the user is most likely at work, at home, on vacation, etc.).Each set of decision criteria 410 is associated one or morecommunication pathways 420. In the event that the alert server receivescritical information for the user, the server can identify from thedecision criteria 410 the communication pathway via which the user wouldprefer to receive the critical information alert. The user profile 402can also include a message type 430 that indicates the type of message,such as text or audio, for example, that is to be delivered via theassociated communication pathway 420.

A first exemplary user profile, as shown in FIG. 4, can be associatedwith a user, whose friendly name is “Bill.” Bill has a user signaturethat includes a user ID “UserID 1” and a password “password 1.” Bill isa structured guy. Every day from Monday through Friday, Bill works inhis office from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm. At those times, Bill wants to benotified via a text message to his office email account. From 8:30 amand 9:00 am, and then again from 5:00 pm until 5:30 pm, Bill is driving.At those times, Bill wants to be notified via an audio message to hismobile phone. From 5:30 pm until 11:00 pm, Bill is at home and wants tobe notified via his home phone. Between 11:00 pm and 8:30 am, Bill doesnot want to be disturbed, and prefers to be notified via his home emailaccount, which he checks every morning before he leaves for work. Onweekends, Bill prefers to be notified by pager, because he does not knowwhere he is going to be.

Note that “Anyday 11:00 pm-5:30 am” can conflict with “Sat; Sun.” Thatis, if critical information arrives at 11:30 pm on a Saturday night, thealert server can send the corresponding critical information alert toboth Bill's home email account and to his pager. Alternatively, thealert server can resolve the conflict and send the critical informationalert to either his home email account or his pager. To resolve such aconflict, priorities can be assigned to the sets of decision criteria.For example, the server can invite Bill to choose whether day of theweek (e.g., Sat; Sun) should trump time of day, or vice versa.

Additionally, if the current day is M-F, but the server has receivedpresence information or location data that suggests that Bill is workingat home, Bill might prefer to receive critical information via an audiomessage to his home telephone. Similarly, if the presence information orlocation data suggests that he is traveling or away on business, hemight prefer to be notified via a text message to his PDA.

A second exemplary user profile shown in FIG. 4 is for a user who ismuch less structured than Bill, even if somewhat less cautious and moreanonymous. The second user, who has a user ID of “UserID 2,” but nofriendly name or password, has simply set up decision criteria thatindicate that the server should attempt to determine whether he is morelikely at home, at work, or traveling, and then send criticalinformation alerts accordingly. As shown, User 2 would prefer to have anaudio message sent to his home telephone number if he is at home. If heis at work, he would prefer to have a text message sent to his officeemail account. If he is traveling, he would prefer to have a textmessage sent to his PDA.

To determine whether the user is at home, or work, or traveling, theserver can evaluate any available location data to determine where theuser is geographically. The location data can be matched againstlocation data that specifies the location of the user's home and office.If he is not in his office or in his home, then the system concludesthat he must be traveling. Additionally, if he is located at home, butavailable presence information indicates that he is logged on to anetwork via his laptop computer, then he is most likely working fromhome, and the service can provide critical information alerts via hisoffice email account.

It should be understood that the decision criteria discussed herein aremerely exemplary, and that any data and any algorithm can be used toidentify a preferred communication pathway via which to provide acritical information alert without departing from the principles of theinvention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B provide a flowchart of a method 600 according to theinvention for providing critical information alerts. At step 602, theuser accesses the alerting service to provide data necessary to set upthe user profile in the data store. As described in detail above, theuser can access the alerting service via telephone (e.g., by dialing atelephone number associated with the service), or via the Internet(e.g., by using a browser on the user's computer to connect to a website that the notification service provides).

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the alerting service isimplemented as a subscription service. That is, only paid subscriberscan utilize the service. It should be understood, however, that theservice could also be implemented such that a subscription isunnecessary. If the service is implemented as a subscription service,then, at step 604, the service determines whether the user is asubscriber to the service. Otherwise, the service skips to step 614.

Preferably, the alert server includes a data store that contains arespective account ID and a user signature for each subscriber. A usersignature can include, for example, a user ID/password combinationassociated with the respective subscriber. The account ID can be, forexample, a unique alphanumeric identifier that the service assigns tothe respective subscriber's account. At step 604, the service invitesthe user to input a user signature, and determines whether the user is asubscriber by determining whether the input signature is in the datastore. Preferably, the service also provides a mechanism by which theuser can change his/her signature (e.g., by changing his/her password),and by which the user can provide a friendly name associated withhim/herself.

If, at step 604, the alert server determines that the user is not asubscriber (e.g., if the input user signature is not in the data store),then, at step 606, the service provides a user interface via which theuser can subscribe to the service. For example, if the service isimplemented as a telephone based service, the service can invite theuser to subscribe by providing an audio message such as “If you wish tosubscribe to this service, please press or say ‘1.’” The service canthen prompt the user to set up an account (e.g., input a signature,friendly name, and preferred payment information) using the telephonekeypad or transceiver. Similarly, if the service is implemented as aweb-based service, the service can invite the user to subscribe byproviding a window (or a link to a subscription web page) that enablesthe user to set up an account.

At step 608, the service determines whether the user has elected tosubscribe. If, at step 608, the service determines that the user has notelected to subscribe (e.g., the user cancels the transaction or does notinput the requested data within a certain timeout period), then, at step610, the service terminates access (by disconnecting the telephone callor providing an error message on the web page, for example).

If the service determines that the user is a subscriber, or if theservice is not implemented as a subscription service, then the servicebegins to request from the user certain data that will enable theservice to provide critical information alerts to the user. (If theservice is not implemented as a subscription service, then the servicecan invite a first-time user to set up an account by entering a usersignature and friendly name.)

At step 614, the service invites the user to input status criteriaassociated with the user. For example, the service can provide a userinterface via which the user can input one or more sets of statuscriteria that enable the alert server to determine a preferredcommunication pathway by which to notify the user of any criticalinformation. As described above in connection with FIG. 4, the statuscriteria can be based on time of day, day of the week, etc. The statuscriteria can also be based on current presence information or locationdata associated with the user. The service receives the status criteriafrom the user, and stores the status criteria in the data store in theuser profile associated with the user.

At step 616, the service invites the user to input a respectivecommunications pathway associated with each set of status criteria. Forexample, during the workday (e.g., Monday through Friday from 9:00 amuntil 5:00 pm), the user might wish to be notified of any criticalinformation via his office email account. Accordingly, the user canspecify his email address. Similarly, during drive time (e.g., Mondaythrough Friday from 8:30 am until 9:00 am), the user might wish to benotified of any critical information via his mobile telephone.Accordingly, the user can provide his mobile telephone number.

Optionally, the service can enable the user to input an indication as towhether the critical information alert should include a text or audiomessage. For example, the user might want the alert to include an audiomessage if it is directed to a telephone, but might prefer a textmessage if it is directed to his PDA, or an audio file attachment to anemail message. Alternatively, the alert server can be programmed torecognize that a critical information alert directed to a pager numberor email address should include a text message, for example, and that acritical information alert directed to a telephone number should includean audio message as a default. The service can optionally provide theuser with the capability to override the default notification messagetype.

After the user account is set up, at step 620, the alert server beginsto receive critical information from the content server(s) associatedwith the user. It should be understood that the alert server can receivecritical information from any number of content servers and providecritical information alerts to any number of users. Accordingly, thealert server determines from the received critical information messagethe identity of the user to which the critical information is to bedelivered. This data can be, as described above, contained in a networkaddress that the user specifies to the content server in order to havethe critical information delivered to the alert server in the firstplace.

At step 622, the alert server receives from the presence server andlocation server, respectively, presence information and location dataassociated with the user to which the critical information alert is tobe delivered. Preferably, the alert server “pulls” the presenceinformation and location data from the presence and location servers.That is, the alert server requests that the presence and informationservers provide presence information and location data associated with aspecified user on demand. In this way, the alert server does not have tomaintain current information about each user, and can request it at thetime it receives critical information from the content server.Alternatively, however, the system can be designed such that thepresence server and location server “push” the presence information andlocation data to the alert server. In such an embodiment, the server canmaintain the presence information and location data for each user in thealert server's data store.

At step 624, the alert server determines the user's current status and,at step 626, the alert server determines, based on the user's currentstatus, the preferred pathway via which to deliver the criticalinformation alert. The alert server can determine the status of the usersimply from the user profile. For example, if the alert server receivescritical information for “Bill” at 3:00 p.m. on a Tuesday, the alertserver can determine from Bill's user profile that a criticalinformation alert should be delivered to Bill's office email account.

The alert server, however, can also use any received presenceinformation or location data to determine the user's current status. Forexample, the presence information or location data might indicate thatBill is not in his office, even though it is Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. Inthat scenario, the alert server might determine that the preferredcommunication pathway is via Bill's mobile phone. However, the presenceinformation might also indicate that Bill's mobile phone is turned off,but that his pager is turned on. In that scenario, the alert servermight determine that the preferred communication pathway is via Bill'spager. In any event, at step 624, the alert server determines the user'scurrent status from the user profile and any available presenceinformation and location data. At step 626, the alert server determinesthe preferred pathway based on the user's current status. It should beunderstood that the alert server can be set up such that a user canspecify more than one “preferred” pathway for a given user status. Forexample, the user might wish to have critical information alertsdelivered during the workday via his pager and his office email.

At step 628, the alert server provides the critical information alert tothe user via the preferred communication pathway(s). For example, if thepreferred communication pathway is the user's mobile telephone, theservice can automatically place a telephone call to the user's mobiletelephone number, and provide an audio message such as “Bill, ABS stockhit $50.00 per share.” If the communications pathway is an emailaddress, pager number, fax number, or text-phone number, for example,the service can dispatch an email notification that includes a similartext message. The server then returns to step 620 and continuesmonitoring for incoming critical information.

Thus, there have been described systems and methods for providingcritical information based on profile data. Those skilled in the artwill appreciate that numerous changes can be made to the preferredembodiments of the invention, and that such changes can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. It is intended, therefore,that the appended claims cover all such equivalent variations as fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A computer implemented method for providing critical information to auser of a content providing service, the method comprising: storing auser profile in a computer data storage device that identifies aplurality of communication pathways to at least one of a wireless and awire line communication network via which a critical information alertcan be provided to a user associated with the user profile, wherein theuser profile includes a respective set of decision criteria associatedwith each of the plurality of communication pathways, wherein each setof decision criteria is based on a likely location of the userdetermined by a comparison of location data identifying a currentgeographic location of the user and current user presence informationagainst location data identifying an associated location of the userstored in the user profile, wherein a specific communication pathway forthe critical information alert and a message type of the criticalinformation alert are automatically determined by the satisfaction ofthe decision criteria associated with one of the plurality ofcommunication pathways; within the user profile, presenting the userwith an option of choosing a specific message type to be included withthe critical information alert, the choice being between one of a textmessage and an audio message regardless of the specific communicationpathway determined for the critical information alert, wherein the useris also provided with the capability to override the specific messagetype; identifying a satisfied set of decision criteria from among therespective sets of decision criteria by determining information that isrelated to the decision criteria; and providing the critical informationalert and the specific message from an alert server to the user via thecommunication pathway associated with the satisfied set of decisioncriteria, wherein the critical information alert contains criticalinformation provided by the content providing service.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein at least one of the respective sets of decisioncriteria includes a decision criterion that is based on a current statusof the user.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of therespective sets of decision criteria includes a decision criterion thatis based on a current day of the week.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinat least one of the respective sets of decision criteria includes adecision criterion that is based on a current location of the userdetermined by a transmitted signal train.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein storing the user profile comprises: storing a user profile thatidentifies, for a selected communication pathway selected from theplurality of communication pathways, an alert receiving deviceassociated with the selected communication pathway.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein storing the user profile comprises: storing a userprofile that identifies, for the alert receiving device associated withthe selected communication pathway, a device identifier that enables analert server to provide the critical information alert via the selectedcommunication pathway.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein storing theuser profile comprises: storing a user profile that identifies a deviceidentifier that includes a number that enables the alert server toestablish a telephone connection to the alert receiving device.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein storing the user profile comprises: storing auser profile that identifies a device identifier that includes at leastone of a telephone number, a pager number, and a fax number.
 9. Themethod of claim 6, wherein storing the user profile comprises: storing auser profile that identifies a device identifier that includes a networkaddress that enables the alert server to establish a telephoneconnection to the alert receiving device.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein storing the user profile comprises: storing a user profile thatidentifies a device identifier that includes an email address.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: providing a user interface viawhich the user can provide data relating to the user profile.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein providing the critical information alertcomprises: providing the critical information alert to an alertreceiving device associated with the communication pathway associatedwith the satisfied set of decision criteria.
 13. An alert server,comprising: a computer data storage device that contains a user profileassociated with a user of a content provider service, wherein the userprofile includes a respective set of decision criteria associated witheach of a plurality of communication pathways, wherein the decisioncriteria is based on a likely location of the user determined by acomparison of location data identifying a current geographic location ofthe user and current user presence information against location dataidentifying an associated location of the user stored in the userprofile; identification means for identifying, from the plurality ofcommunication pathways and based on the user profile, a preferredcommunication pathway for transmitting a critical information alert bydetermining first information that is distinct from use of thecommunication pathways and by determining second information that is notrelated to failed attempts to transmit the critical information alertover one or more of the communication pathways, wherein a message typeof the of the critical information alert is automatically determined bythe satisfaction of set of decision criteria associated with one of theplurality of communication pathways; selection means for allowing theuser an option to select a specific message type by which the criticalinformation alert is to be transmitted, the specific message type optionincluding one of a text message and an audio message regardless of themessage type determined for the critical information alert; overridemeans for allowing the user the option to override the specific messagetype; and transmission means for transmitting the critical informationalert via the preferred communication pathway.
 14. The alert server ofclaim 13, further comprising: receiving means for receiving presenceinformation associated with the user, wherein the identification meansidentifies the preferred communication pathway based on the presenceinformation.
 15. The alert server of claim 13, wherein the firstinformation comprises the time of day and the day of the week andwherein the user profile specifies a first communication pathway inassociation with a range of days of the week and a range of the time ofthe day and the user profile specifies at least a second communicationpathway in association with the days of the week and the times of daynot associated with the first communication pathway.
 16. The alertserver of claim 13, wherein the critical information alert contains thecritical information.
 17. The alert server of claim 13, wherein the userprofile identifies the plurality of communication pathways via which thecritical information alert can be provided.
 18. The alert server ofclaim 13, further comprising: receiving means for receiving presenceinformation associated with the user, wherein the identification meansidentifies the preferred communication pathway based on the presenceinformation, wherein the second information comprises the presenceinformation which indicates the communication pathways to which the useris currently present.
 19. The alert server of claim 13, furthercomprising: receiving means for receiving location informationassociated with the user, wherein the identification means identifiesthe preferred communication pathway based on the location information,wherein the first information comprises the location information that isobtained through a location system independent of the communicationpathways.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of therespective sets of decision criteria includes a decision criterion thatis based on a current location of the user and wherein the informationthat is related to the decision criteria and that is distinct from useof the communication pathways indicates the current location of theuser.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the respectivesets of decision criteria includes a decision criterion that is based onpresence information associated with the user and wherein the presenceinformation indicates which communication pathways are currently in useby the user.